CAREER: Advancing Accessible Making for People with Visual Impairments via Tactile Shape Displays

经济实惠的3D打印技术通过赋予个人创造成品物理产品的能力，使制造商运动成为可能。然而，现有的允许创作和编辑3D模型的计算机辅助设计（CAD）工具对于盲人或视障人士来说是无法使用的，因为缺乏广泛可用的低成本高分辨率触觉显示器来向这个社区的成员展示3D信息，并且缺乏与这些显示器进行多模态交互的研究和指南。这项工作将通过开发支持创建2.5D可刷新和可扩展触觉显示器的基础技术来解决这些问题，并严格调查目标受众在感知、互动和学习背景下的使用情况，从而为STEM教育和就业提供基本工具。项目成果将有助于无障碍用户界面和触觉技术领域。其他广泛的影响将源于对如何更好地设计3D用户界面的理解，从而使此类系统能够广泛使用。为了实现既定目标，本项目将探讨四个关键研究问题：(1)如何开发低成本、高分辨率的2.5D触觉显示器？(2)使用这种显示器来理解和交互3D信息需要哪些交互技术？(3)如何为目标社区的成员提供最佳的3D创作和制作支持？(4)在野外使用3D打印如何改变这个群体的制造自我效能感和他们对STEM的看法？为此，该项目将侧重于以下协同研究目标：利用静电粘接尺蠖电机阵列实现低成本、高分辨率2.5D触觉显示；支持直接操作和多模态交互，为盲人或视障制造者理解和创作形状；以及长期部署一个支持3D理解和创作的混合倡议系统，以验证该工具及其对自我效能和学习的影响。研究议程将与一项有意义的教育计划紧密结合，包括为目标受众开发非正式的STEM学习材料，并在社区研讨会上部署这些材料，以及在无障碍用户界面和技术领域开发课程，特别关注触摸和音频交互。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Affordable 3D printing technologies have enabled the maker movement by giving individuals the ability to create finished physical products. However, existing computer-aided design (CAD) tools that allow authoring and editing of 3D models are not accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired due to the lack of widely available low-cost high resolution tactile displays for presenting 3D information to members of this community, and the scarcity of research and guidelines on multi-modal interaction with such displays. This work will address these issues through the development of fundamental technology supporting the creation of 2.5D refreshable and scalable tactile displays, and rigorous investigation of their use by the intended audience in the context of perception, interaction, and learning, thereby providing access to essential tools for STEM education and employment. Project outcomes will contribute to the fields of accessible user interfaces and haptic technology. Additional broad impact will derive from the resulting understanding of how better to design 3D user interfaces in general to enable wide scale use of such systems.To achieve the stated goals, this project will investigate four key research questions: (1) How can low-cost, high resolution 2.5D tactile displays be developed? (2) What interaction techniques are necessary to understand and interact with 3D information using such displays? (3) How can 3D authoring and making best be supported for members of the target community? (4) How does access to 3D printing in the wild change this community's self-efficacy of making and their opinions of STEM? To these ends, the project will focus on the following synergistic research aims: using electrostatic adhesive inchworm motor arrays to enable low-cost, high resolution 2.5D tactile displays; supporting direct manipulation and multi-modal interaction for shape understanding and authoring for makers who are blind or visually impaired; and long-term deployment of a mixed-initiative system for supporting 3D understanding and authoring, to validate the tool and its effect on self-efficacy and learning. The research agenda will be tightly integrated with a meaningful education plan, including development of informal STEM learning materials for the target audience and deployment of those materials at community workshops, as well as course development in the area of accessible user interfaces and technology, with specific attention to touch and audio interaction.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.